Embracing Watson Syndrome
by Gabi-hime
Summary: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Hiyono and Rio share a joint confession one rainy afternoon in the hospital. Hiyono & Ayumu and onesided Rio & Eyes. Updated and Minty fresh!


Embracing Watson Syndrome  
  
A Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna One Shot  
  
By Gabi (pinkfluffynet@yahoo.com)  
  
A/N: Here we are, minty fresh and updated both in honorifics and dialogue ^_^. I hope this suits everyone better. Speaking of: -- should make everyone feel better ^__^. I'm working on ironing the kinks out of the plot on a multi-part Ayumu/Hiyono story called "His Girl Friday" So that should be out in the near future ^_^. Thanks everyone and watch out for spoilers, as this takes place after the TV series and assumes you've watched 'til the end ^^. -----  
  
The glass was cool against her cheek, probably a result of all the water running over it on the other side. The rain had come unexpectedly, a sudden squall that had turned into a downpour that showed no signs of stopping in the near future. She shifted slightly in the uncomfortable hospital chair. What a day to chance the weather. She'd left her umbrella at home so it would be easier to carry the bentou that she brought.  
  
Rio sat propped up against three overstuffed pillows, hands folded quietly on her lap. Her head was down and her bangs obscured her eyes. She appeared to be thinking about something and Hiyono had no desire to disturb her with polite conversation. There were days for that and then there were days for thinking, and this had rapidly degenerated from the former to the latter after she'd made an innocent enough observation about Eyes Rutherford's schedule. She'd simply complimented Eyes on his devotion to the other Blade Children. He was always careful to watch over and worry about them, despite how entirely stoic he might seem on the surface.  
  
Rio had been mostly silent since she'd brought up Rutherford, hands running absently over the pebbly texture of the honeydew melon in her lap. Idly, Hiyono wondered if the bad weather got into her leg and made it ache. She'd read about things like that, and although she had no personal experience with it herself, it might explain a little of Rio's silence. After all, the girl had been out of the hospital only a little over three months before an accidental tumble down the stairs had landed her back in the white linen bed she now tenanted and earned her a fractured tibia. Fortunately the prognosis wasn't as bad as the last time, as this time she hadn't actually blown any bits of her body apart. She was slated for release next week, although she'd have to wear a cast for several weeks afterward. This would slow her down considerably and meant that both she and the other Blade Children would have to be on much closer watch for hunters. She, Narumi, and the other Blade Children, she sighed as she corrected herself. He still didn't like getting involved and she had been unsure if she would ever be able to completely forgive him for ignoring Rio's desperate plea for help some months ago. She sighed again. That had been a silly worry. Through repeated trial and error, she found that she could forgive Narumi Ayumu of anything. It was just his way, after all, and it was exactly those ways that made her l--  
  
No, she wouldn't think about that now. Her eyes stole over to Rio again and she found the girl had given up fondling her melon and had turned her attention to the laptop that had sat previously unattended on her bedside night table. Dogeared and creased, the booklet to Eyes's Japanese release cd lay on the bed and Hiyono was not surprised that they were soon graced by the soft but rich tones of the expert pianist.  
  
"I think it goes along with the weather," Rio said absently, turning her gaze to the washed out parking lot visible through the window although several stories below. After a moment of study, she continued, "That's the thing I hate most about being in the hospital. I can't hear Eyes-kun play. It's so different when I can sit in the room while he plays. It makes me feel close to him. Like he's playing for me, even though I know he's not."  
  
"Outside in the hall," Hiyono murmured half to herself. Rio looked up at her, unsure, and Hiyono felt she had to clarify. It wasn't something she had intended to share, but now that she had, she needed to explain, "Narumi- san won't let me sit in the music room when he plays. He's too unsure of himself. It makes him uncomfortable if anyone is there with him, but I still love to hear him play, so I sit outside in the hall. He doesn't seem to mind that."  
  
"Hiyono-san loves Otoutou-san," Rio observed, rather matter-of-factly.  
  
Hiyono blushed furiously and bit her lip, "Don't be silly, Rio-san. Narumi- san and I -- we aren't anything like that. I mean, I steal his lunch sometimes, because his cooking is so good, and I like to hear him play the piano because he doesn't give himself enough credit, and I -- "  
  
"Believe in him even when he doesn't believe in himself, trust him more than any other person in the world, and respect his wishes even when they make you upset. You love him," supplied Rio, quirking an eyebrow, "Really, Hiyono-san, I think it's pretty obvious."  
  
Hiyono sighed, defeated. Well, maybe it would make her feel better to talk about it, "Is it really so obvious?"  
  
"Ever since that incident with the train? Yes," answered Rio frankly, glancing at the empty bentou that still sat on the table in front of her, "He didn't make that, did he?"  
  
Hinoyo shook her head, "No, I did. Today is a rest day and I don't always see Narumi-san on rest days. I try to visit him pretty frequently and cheer him up at home. He's been pretty down since Madoka-onee-san left him that note and disappeared, but it seems like he doesn't want me around sometimes. I try my best to keep his spirits up, but, well, sometimes it seems like he doesn't want me too. Like he wants to wallow in it. Like I'm just in his way. I can't understand why someone would just want to brood all the time oversomething he can't help."  
  
Rio turned away and bowed her head before answering very softly, "I don't understand either."  
  
Hiyono's eyes widened as she made the connection between the melon in Rio's lap to the tremor in her voice, "Rio-san loves Eyes-san!" she exclaimed perhaps a little too loudly, causing the younger girl to tremble slightly. It took every ounce of control in her body to keep from whipping out her little pink book and notating this terribly important revelation. Somehow she didn't think media coverage was what Rio needed right now.  
  
Rio nodded, head still bowed, voice still very, very soft, "But Eyes-kun doesn't love Rio. Not like that. Eyes-kun is my special person, but . . ."  
  
"Special person?" echoed Hiyono. She'd never heard it phrased exactly like that. It somehow seemed fitting.  
  
"Eyes-kun is my most important person," Rio explained, twisting up the fabric of the sheet in her hands, "I always want him to be happy, even if it's not with me. Eyes-kun's special person is . . . is . . ." her voice trembled again, "is Kanon-kun, I think, and Kanon-kun hurt him. He hurt all of us, but Eyes-kun the most, since Eyes-kun was always the closest to him. I know that Eyes-kun is hurting inside, even though he won't show it and I don't know how to help him. He won't let me help him. He just wants to brood and brood over Kanon-kun and it hurts me to see him so upset . . . ."  
  
Hiyono's eyes softened as she caught the sparkle of tears that Rio was trying to hide. It was strange to see Rio like this, so vulnerable, after having seen her mastermind a scheme that had nearly killed Ayumu. It went a long way to remind Hiyono that the Blade Children were still just that: children. She abandoned her solitary chair by the window and went to the bed to gather the smaller girl in a gentle, comforting hug. Rio seemed to need to talk even more than she did.  
  
As if in response to this thought, Rio hiccuped as Hiyono drew her closer, "I'm sorry Hiyono-san, it's just that I needed to talk to someone. Ryouko- chan and Kousuke-no-baka always come together now, and I can't talk to Eyes- kun. I thought that you might understand, since . . . I'm sorry Hiyono-san, I didn't mean to burden you with my own personal problems. You do so much already, getting Otoutou-san to help us. I don't think he would if you weren't there. I think he would've given up on us already."  
  
Hiyono hushed her absently, petting the younger girl's head in an attempt to calm her down, "It's all right, Rio-san. I'm here and I'm listening. You don't have to worry about burdening me. I'm Rio-san's friend, ne?" she forced the buoyancy that was so characteristic of her tone back into her voice, "Ne? That's what friends are for, right?"  
  
Rio sniffled and Hiyono felt her nod before sniffling again.  
  
"Everyone needs a hug once in a while," Hiyono comforted, "Everyone needs to be told that they're needed and wanted."  
  
Rio's voice when it came was soft and delicate, worried, "Who hugs Hiyono- san? Who tells her that she's needed and wanted?"  
  
The question caught Hiyono off guard and struck her to the quick, making her stiffen against Rio. A tear blurring the edge of her vision threatened to slip down her face, but she fought it off an answered as cheerfully as she could.  
  
"Narumi-san does," she forced a smile, "Narumi-san does in his own way."  
  
"And that's enough for Hiyono-san?" Rio asked softly, drumming her fingers lightly on the jewel case she held close to her chest.  
  
Hiyono closed her eyes for a moment and then released Rio, squeezing her shoulder as she did so, "Yes. It has to be. I'm happy, helping Narumi-san whenever I can, even when he doesn't want me too. It's not healthy to mope, you know? Over anything," she clarified, perhaps a little more forcefully that she had intended.  
  
Rio folded the cd case over her heart and nodded, "I suppose you're right, Hiyono-san. I'll try not to mope. It seems a little silly to fuss over Eyes- kun moping when all I do is mope about him. I guess it's important to be strong for your special person."  
  
Hiyono nodded and squeezed her free hand, "It is, but it's still good to talk about it once in a while, too. I want you to know that I'm always here if you want to talk, Rio-san."  
  
Rio smiled for the first time since Hiyono had arrived and leaned back into her pillows, "And maybe next time Hiyono-san could bring a better lunch, one she stole from Otoutou-san."  
  
Hiyono laughed, crossing her arms across her chest and giving herself a hug as she stood, "Maybe. I'll have to be pretty sly about it though. He always gets cranky when I steal his lunch."  
  
Rio giggled, "But Hiyono-san, how can you tell? Otoutou-san cranky all the time."  
  
Hiyono stuck her tongue out, "The same way that you can tell that Eyes-san is being more stoic than usual."  
  
Rio made a face back and they continued on like this for some time until a nurse arrived and announced that visiting hours were over. Hiyono gave Rio a parting hand squeeze and fluffed her pillows and promised to visit again as soon as she could. She tried not to think about the rain, which she knew she'd have to face momentarily. It was still coming down in sheets and she still had nothing to cover herself with. Oh well, there was nothing else for it. She was just going to have to get wet. She took a deep breath and then boldly stepped through the sliding glass doors of the hospital's main entrance, prepared to get completely soaked through to the bone.  
  
Miraculously, she remained dry.  
  
"I thought you were going to stay up there all night."  
  
She turned on her heel to find Ayumu behind her, attached to the shaft of his familiar dark blue umbrella. He was leaning against the wall directly outside the hospital's entrance, which is why she hadn't spotted him from inside.  
  
"Why am I not surprised that you forgot your umbrella?" he asked, "Sometimes I wonder if you have any brains at all."  
  
He knocked on her forehead lightly which she didn't resist, but she was quick to stick her tongue out at him as a reprisal, "I've carried my umbrella with me every other day this week. You can't be prepared all the time, Narumi-san."  
  
"What were you talking about anyway?" he asked abruptly, ignoring her own conversation in favor of his own, as he was apt to do.  
  
She smiled, trying to read his dark eyes. He'd come all the way across town just to make sure she wouldn't get wet on the way home. Oh, she knew he'd never admit it. He'd just claim to have been in the area or he'd make up some other rather transparent excuse, but still, it felt good to be hugged every once in a while.  
  
"Special people," she answered readily, smiling at him, "Like Narumi-san and Eyes-san."  
  
It was his turn to shrug and he grunted noncommitally, and as he did so he shouldered his umbrella and started off down the sidewalk. Hiyono jumped, suddenly quite unprotected from the rain and had to dash to keep up with him and under the protection of the umbrella.  
  
"Come on," he spoke shortly, once she had joined him again, underneath the umbrella, "I'll make you dinner. It's easier to cook for two than to cook for one."  
  
Yes, it was good to be hugged every once in a while.  
  
Across town, in a sky rise penthouse that kept him quite safe from the rain, Eyes Rutherford played a moonlight sonata while Takuechi Rio slept, and the song, half drowned in the torrent of rain was not for her, but that was all right, because the song she kept safe in her heart was for him and for him alone. 


End file.
